Zendaya stars as Raquel “Rocky” Blue, one half of the comedic duo of young dancers trying to dance her way to stardom, in the new Disney Channel series “Shake It Up!”

Born September 1, 1996, in Oakland, California, Zendaya grew up as part of the nearby California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda, where her mother works as the House Manager. In addition to training at the theater’s student conservatory program, and later performing in numerous stage productions, Zendaya helped her mom zitplaats, stoel patrons and sell raffle tickets to benefit the theater.